Nephthea coral problem

[myboyblu]

Hey guys I have had this Nephthea for a little over a year. It has always had this black crusty looking stuff on the stalk, kinda looks like charcoal. I never worried about it, the coral was doing great with big open polyps So i thought is was normal, maybe algae or something.
About a month ago it spread like crazy all over the entire coral, polyps, stalk everywhere. Any ideas?
PO4 0.01
NO3 0
NO2 0
CA 510
KH 10.6
PH 8.33
Mg 1280

 

[myboyblu]

Not a great pic, but this is what it looked like before the black strings.

 

[myboyblu]

I know there is a lot of content on this site but I really need help with this. Has no one seen this before?

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Is it an algae? I have a sinularia and sometimes algae grows on the base. Could you try brushing it off perhaps?

 

[myboyblu]

I thoight it was algae... but it's more like decay. It has a cavity where the "algae" is coming from.

 

[reef lover]

Soft coral needs to shed periodically. If flow isn't sufficient it will not be able to rid itself of this waste. Try aiming a powerhead towards it and see if it helps....you might need to frag off unaffected parts to save some if it...